


Not a Crush

by TheGreatCatsby



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: M/M, Pining, i was happy to find out what both their favorite foods are, poor oikawa he has a crush, tanaka's amazing cooking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-03-15
Packaged: 2019-11-18 14:38:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18122306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheGreatCatsby/pseuds/TheGreatCatsby
Summary: When Oikawa's nephew almost gets hit by a car, Oikawa does NOT get a crush on the Karasuno player who saved him, because Oikawa does NOT get crushes. Right?





	Not a Crush

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WalaLang](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WalaLang/gifts).



> Thank you Len for asking me to write this, and I hope you and your friend enjoy it! I had a lot of fun writing it!

If asked, Oikawa would say that he'd never had a crush. 

This was wrong, but even if it had been true it would have stopped being true the minute his nephew walked into traffic. 

Oikawa had been coaching his nephew, Takeru, and a group of kids his age in volleyball, as he often did during his free time. He found that he liked being a coach. Perhaps he didn’t give off that vibe, considering how he’d acted with Kageyama back in middle school, but children weren’t his competition, and as he told Iwa-chan, “children are the future.” 

He’d kind of been kidding, but there was something nice about watching Takeru and his peer’s progress knowing that he’d played a part in that. He would be proud of what they could do once they got older. 

Takeru was a talented kid (like his uncle) and a smart kid (like his uncle) and Oikawa was sure that once he got into high school he’d win the hearts of everyone (like his uncle), but he had one potentially fatal flaw: the damn kid was easily distracted, especially when talking to friends even when he was about to do something like walk into the street. 

Today, he was walking backwards into the street, talking to his friends. Oikawa saw what was about to happen in slow motion. A car was coming down the street without any sign of stopping and Takeru was about to step off the sidewalk with his back to the road and completely unaware. 

“Takeru!” Oikawa shouted, but it was too late — Takeru had stepped onto the street and Oikawa was too far away to do anything. The car was going to hit him — 

Except it didn’t. 

Someone dashed into the road and pushed Takeru out of the way. They both ended up sprawled in the middle of the street, but out of the path of the car, which screeched to a halt. The person who had pushed Takeru out of the car’s path picked himself up, held out a hand to Takeru and pulled him up as well, before turning around. 

Oikawa realized he knew that person. It was one of Karasuno’s spikers, the loud second year. Well, the _other_ loud second year, the taller one that Oikawa called Baldy in the absence of remembering his actual name. 

Baldy walked in front of the car and, to Oikawa’s surprise, started shouting at the driver. He caught, "Oi! Drive better next time!" and then said something to Takeru, patting him on the shoulder and smiling. 

Oikawa ran over. “Are you okay?” 

“Yeah!” Takeru smiled. “He saved my life!” 

“He wouldn’t have to if you didn’t walk into the road without paying attention,” Oikawa pointed out. Takeru stuck out his tongue. 

Oikawa looked up and saw Baldy staring at him. “It’s you,” he growled. 

Oikawa smiled. “I guess I should thank you for saving my nephew —”

Baldy stared at him. “ _Nephew!_ ” 

“But that doesn’t mean I’ll go easy on you guys when we meet again.” Oikawa grinned. “We’ll win of course, even if we did cut you some slack.” 

“You two know each other?” Takeru asked. 

“Hah!” Baldy gave Oikawa a fierce smile. “We’re gonna drag your asses through the mud!” 

Oikawa gasped. “There’s children here!” 

Baldy’s eyes widened. “Oh, shit. I mean —”

“Come on, Takeru-kun,” Oikawa said, turning away. “I’ll take you home.” As they started walking, Oikawa glanced over his shoulder. “Thanks for saving my nephew! Can’t wait to crush you guys next time!” 

Baldy looked annoyed, bordering on angry. His eye twitched. 

And that was that. Or it should have been. 

Even if Oikawa didn't realize it at the time, the moment that Baldy started yelling at the driver was the moment he gained a newfound crush...on someone from a rival team. It was so unthinkable that he actually didn’t think about it that day, or the day after, even though he couldn’t get Baldy out of his head. 

This was not good. 

*

“Shittykawa, what the hell are you daydreaming about?”

Oikawa didn’t realize he’d been asked a question until a volleyball hit him in the chest, nearly sending him sprawling. 

“Iwa-chaaan, that hurt!” 

Iwaizumi looked completely unsympathetic. “You’re lucky I didn’t go for a headshot.” 

“My head is a very valuable asset to this team,” Oikawa said. “In fact, to the entire school. My pretty face —”

“We actually have games to practice for, you know,” Iwaizumi said. “That pretty face isn’t going to win Nationals.” 

“But my expert strategies will,” Oikawa said. 

“Is that what you were doing?” Iwaizumi sounded unconvinced. 

“Exactly.” In truth, he’d been replaying the rescue of his nephew in his head. More specifically, he was replaying the way Baldy had yelled at the driver. He realized this had nothing to do with volleyball, but he could use it to his advantage. 

After all, Baldy was one of Karasuno’s starters and one of their best spikers. If he thought about Baldy in the context of volleyball, then he could read him better and know how to prevent him from scoring. He already knew that Baldy was quick to anger, but sometimes angering him could backfire on the other team, because he could get fired up and use that to improve himself. In that case, Oikawa would need to fall back on game strategy rather than psychological tricks. 

That was all he was doing. Getting to know the enemy. 

He didn’t think Iwaizumi would appreciate that, though. 

“Well, spend your time thinking later,” Iwaizumi said. “We have shit to do and we don’t have all day.” 

*

Oikawa had a stack of DVDs in his room with footage from various games that Seijoh had played over the years. Some of them were from before he’d joined the team, but most of them were from the time he’d been playing for them. 

Because he was planning on strategizing against Baldy, he turned his attention to their last game with Karasuno, the practice match in which they’d absolutely crushed the other team. 

If he were thinking clearly, he would have focused on every single one of the players rather than just one, but his attention was focused on Baldy. The video wasn’t completely clear because it was taken from far away and filming wasn’t a priority for either school for this particular game. The camera used was shitty, and as a result Oikawa could barely make out the players, their jersey numbers, or some of the moves they used. The ball was a blur that moved around the screen and occasionally hit the ground. 

This wasn’t helpful. He decided he needed to see this in person. 

He was going to sneak into Karasuno. 

*

Oikawa wasn’t the best at disguises because he never really felt the need to hide his flawless features, so his “disguise” consisted of a non-team jacket, a baseball cap, and sunglasses. 

He arrived sometime before practice. There was only one door from the outside leading into Karasuno’s gym, which made hiding difficult. There were a few small windows off to the side, but they were hard to reach. Oikawa decided to hide in a nearby bush until the team arrived and practice had started. 

A few of them started trickling in. Then Oikawa saw him — Baldy was walking with the other loud second year and they were both talking animatedly about new moves they wanted to try. Oikawa heard something about thunder and wondered what, exactly, they thought a good move was. Baldy was holding a tray of something in his hands and a few of the other players came back out when they smelled the food. Oikawa could smell it from where he was hiding and it made him hungry. 

There was meat inside the tray Baldy was carrying. 

The team swarmed around him and he smiled and proudly said that he’d learned how to make pork buns, so when the shop ran out or was closed they could have them anyway. Everyone took one and Oikawa watched as their eyes widened. Even Kageyama, as stoic as he often was, looked like he was having an epiphany. 

The small red-headed spiker, Hinata, started shouting about how amazing the buns were, and they smelled so good that Oikawa was tempted to come out of his hiding place and steal one. He didn’t, because that would be stupid, but it was a struggle. 

“Tanaka-senpai, teach me how to make pork buns!” Hinata cried. Kageyama pulled him back and said something under his breath, and Hinata glared at him. 

Oikawa took note that Baldy’s name was Tanaka. He would remember it. 

Tanaka promised to teach them at some point, and that was when the team’s captain, Sawamura, reminded them that they actually did have practice and their time in the gym was limited. Oikawa was a bit sad to see them go. 

Then he remembered that he shouldn’t be sad, because he was here to watch them play after all, and to strategize. He took his place by one of the windows to peer inside. 

The team started with various exercises. They didn’t run, which Oikawa assumed was because they’d eaten right before practice, but they did do a few warm-up exercises and stretches before they all started practicing serves, with a few of them receiving and switching out every so often. The only server who really caught Oikawa’s attention was Kageyama, which irritated him. 

Next they did spiking exercises, again with a few of them switching out receiving. Kageyama was the setter for this, but at some point he did switch out with Mr. Refreshing. This was a small blip on Oikawa’s radar, though, because spiking was where Baldy — _Tanaka_ — really got to shine. 

Tanaka was a fierce competitor and he gave his all even for just this exercise. He worked really well with both setters, Oikawa noticed, probably because he’d worked with Mr. Refreshing before Kageyama came. He came at the ball with a lot of power, he had excellent jumps, and his aim was good. He could be a bit wild, but Oikawa assumed that would become more precise with time. He’d be ace-material by his third year provided Hinata didn’t take that title. 

Spiking practice was one thing. An actual game was another. 

The closest Oikawa would get to an actual game right now was watching them do a mock-match, with the team split up. Tanaka had been put on the same side as Mr. Refreshing and some of the first years, while the other second year, Hinata, and Kageyama were playing against him. 

Oikawa had noticed this before during their last match from a purely strategic point of view, but now that he was watching from the sidelines he noticed it even more: Tanaka wore his heart on his sleeve when he played. 

He wasn’t the only one on the team who did this, but he was competing with Hinata for being the most expressive. He channeled it more into the actual game, too, because Hinata was too inexperienced to fully be able to do that. 

Tanaka was captivating, Oikawa realized. The way he gave his all in every spike, the power behind each hit, the way he would lunge after hard to get receives just to make sure the setter could get the ball or that it wouldn’t hit the ground. In a way, he played like his life depended on it, and when he succeeded, his satisfaction was infectious. He was the definition of the word “hype” and Oikawa felt himself getting hyped up with him. Not everyone could affect the mood of a whole team like that. 

Failure just seemed to drive him to try harder. Oikawa could appreciate that drive because he had it himself. That was someone he would want to play with. Someone that, perhaps, he would want to get to know better, to see what kind of person was so expressive and to see how they used that energy in other parts of their life. 

The game ended. 

Oikawa shook himself out of his thoughts, forcing himself to look away as the team went over to their coach. They’d probably be leaving soon and Oikawa didn’t want to be caught, so he jumped down from clinging to the building wall and started walking away. 

His mind was still back in that gym. It was a shame, really, that Tanaka was on the other team. Oikawa would never be able to set for him, and that made him feel sad. It was also a weird feeling, because he rarely cared about people who weren’t on his team. It was pointless, and he was satisfied with the team he had. But the rare times that something caught his attention, he found it hard to let it go. He was stubborn, and when he wanted something he usually went after it. 

When he couldn’t have something, that just made him want it more. 

*

“Where the fuck were you yesterday?” Iwaizumi asked over lunch. 

“Doing some reconnaissance,” Oikawa said. 

Iwaizumi narrowed his eyes. “For what.” 

“I was looking into Karasuno.” 

“For fuck’s sake, Oikawa, leave Kageyama alone —”

“Why would I go all the way to Karasuno just to watch him?” Oikawa asked. 

“Because you’re petty.” 

That wasn’t wrong. “Have a little faith in me, Iwa-chan. I know Kageyama, so I didn’t need to pay attention to him. I was getting familiar with everyone else.” 

“I didn’t know you cared about Karasuno so much,” Iwaizumi said. 

“They’re an up-and-coming threat,” Oikawa said. “It would be foolish to not take them into account coming into Nationals, even if I know we’ll beat them.” 

“You’re just doing it because you want to see your kouhai for some weird, petty reason.” 

Oikawa was annoyed. He hadn’t even paid attention to Kageyama. “There’s other people on that team, you know. Like that one spiker, who’s probably gonna become their ace.” 

“Hinata?” 

“Baldy! I may have underestimated him. I thought he’d be easy to deal with because he gets worked up a lot, but as it turns out that helps him in the game,” Oikawa said. “Which is a bad thing, because his spikes are powerful and he knows how to aim them. He’s more experienced and therefore more precise than someone like that tiny first year. And he really knows how to lift the morale of the team. I’m not even sure if he knows he’s doing it, but probably. He likes hyping everyone up. Do you know how advantageous it is to have a hype-man on your side, Iwa-chan? _Do you?_ ” 

Iwaizumi stared at him. 

The longer it went on, the more unnerved Oikawa felt. “What?” 

“The fuck?” Iwaizumi pinched the bridge of his nose. “Let me get this straight — you went to spy on Karasuno yesterday and instead of looking at the whole ass team, you looked at one second year and decided he was the biggest threat.” 

Oikawa blinked. 

“You sound even more obsessed with him than you do with Kageyama,” Iwaizumi continued, “which makes no sense because he hasn’t almost lost us a game. Unlike Kageyama. His playing skills don’t actually stand out —”

“Team morale is important,” Oikawa insisted. “The psychological aspects of the game —”

“You already knew how to mess with Karasuno,” Iwaizumi cut him off. “So what is it really?”

“It was definitely that,” Oikawa said. Iwaizumi gave him an unimpressed look, which always put Oikawa on the spot and made him feel the need to be honest. “Well...okay...don’t tell anyone this, but Baldy saved my nephew’s life.” 

“What.” 

“Takeru walked into the road without looking even though I swear I taught him better than that, and a car was coming, but I was too far away to do anything. Baldy came out of nowhere and pushed him out of the way and then yelled at the driver,” Oikawa said with a shrug, as if it wasn’t a big deal. But even just describing it made him think about how Tanaka had done it like it was nothing, when a lot of people wouldn’t have. 

Iwaizumi took all of this in. “So he rescued your nephew and then you decided that you needed to pay more attention to him so you could use him, specifically, to beat Karasuno next time we play them.” 

“Right. That’s exactly it.” 

Iwaizumi burst out laughing. 

 

“What?!” 

“I can’t believe this. You have a crush!” 

Oikawa stared at Iwaizumi in horror, his cheeks turning red. “Wh — I — what are you — he — _no!_ ” 

“You should see your face right now,” Iwaizumi said. “That’s definitely a crush right there. The only reason you ever get obsessed with things is if it has to do with volleyball or if you want it. You want him but you can’t have him.” 

“Iwa-chan, don’t make up these lies,” Oikawa said, trying to play it off. 

“Have you read Romeo & Juliet?” Iwaizumi asked. 

Oikawa’s eyes widened. “Don’t you dare.” 

“Star-crossed lovers from enemy families who could never be together —”

“Stop!” 

Iwaizumi stopped, but he was clearly holding back laughter. 

Oikawa tilted his chin up. “I do _not_ have a crush on Baldy. I’m just doing what I feel is best for our team.” 

“Sure.” Iwaizumi packed up and stood as the bell rang to signal the end of lunch. “Whatever you say, Shittykawa. By the way...I hear he’s a good cook.” 

“How do you know that?” Oikawa asked. 

Iwaizumi began walking. 

Oikawa ran after him. “Iwa-chan, how do you know? Tell meeeee!” 

“Ask him yourself,” Iwaizumi said. “And while you’re at it, tell him you’ve got a crush on him.” 

“So mean! I do not.” 

He didn’t have a crush. That was impossible. He could appreciate a good volleyball player and that was all this was. 

*

When Oikawa went to coach Takeru and his team, he was met with a surprise. 

Tanaka was there. Coaching Takeru and his team. 

Or at least, doing spiking exercises with them. 

Oikawa didn’t know what to do, so he hid and watched. 

The kids seemed so happy. Tanaka demonstrated a spike by showing them his own and grinned when the kids ooo and aaah’d around him and told him how cool that was, to which he responded, “I know, right?” 

Then he set to the kids as they spiked and encouraged them, telling them what was good about their spike and how they could improve. His enthusiasm seemed to motivate the kids to try harder. 

Oikawa realized that it was stupid that he was hiding. He never _hid_ from things, and yet he felt the need to hide from this second year rival. He shouldn’t have, considering his team was definitely going to beat Karasuno next time. 

But a small voice in his head asked him what he’d do if Tanaka genuinely hated him. 

Oikawa never thought that sort of thing either, but for some reason it was important that Tanaka didn’t hate him. Not just that — it was important that Tanaka actually _liked_ him. 

Was that what a crush was? 

Oikawa pushed the thought aside. He needed to be himself and stop letting whatever it was hold him back, so he stepped out onto the court with a smile on his face. “I see you’re stealing my students, Baldy.” 

Tanaka tilted his chin up. “They like me better than you.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“Yeah,” Takeru said. 

Oikawa shot him a glare. 

Tanaka smirked. “Hah!” 

“Well, it seems like you’re in need of a setter,” Oikawa said, “and I just happen to be one. I can show you what a _real_ setter does.” 

“Are you insulting my setting?” Tanaka asked, his eyes narrowing. 

“I want to see you set and spike!” A younger girl piped up. 

“I can’t do both at the same time,” Oikawa pointed out. 

“No, she means you two together,” Takeru said. “You set, and he spikes, because we couldn’t set properly to him.” 

So they wanted to see how seasoned players worked as a unit. They weren’t on the same team, of course, but it could work. 

“I’ll do it,” Oikawa said, “as long as Baldy doesn’t let my beautiful sets go to waste…” 

“I’ll take your sets and turn them into the best damn spikes you’ve ever seen,” Tanaka growled. 

“You’re on.” 

Takeru tossed Oikawa a volleyball and they took their positions, Oikawa by the net and Tanaka a little ways back so he could run up. 

“Ready?” Oikawa asked. 

“I was born ready.” 

Oikawa would’ve rolled his eyes at the cliched line if it hadn’t sounded so sincere. “Alright, here goes!” He tossed the ball in the air and set it in a perfect arc for Tanaka to hit. 

And hit it, Tanaka did. He ran up, jumped, intersecting the ball’s trajectory, and slammed it into the ground on the other side of the net. The ball bounced up and rolled away. 

Tanaka fist-pumped as if it was an actual game. “I told you,” he said to Oikawa. “Send another!” 

“I wanna try!” One of the boys called out. 

Tanaka looked surprised, as if he’d just remembered the kids were there. “Ah, yeah.” He rubbed the back of his head. “I guess since that guy’s here —”

“I have a name and it’s Oikawa,” Oikawa said. “Besides, you can help. Unless being in the presence of greatness is too much for you.” 

Tanaka glared at him. “I’ll show you greatness.” 

“Guys,” Takeru said. 

Oikawa cleared his throat. “Right. You can receive their spikes and give them constructive criticism or encouragement or whatever you do, and I’ll set to them,” he said. “Give them a taste of what a _real_ set feels like.” 

Tanaka considered it for a moment. “Fine. But this is the only time I’ll work with the enemy.” 

Oikawa laughed, but his heart did a weird sort of flutter. He ignored it as Tanaka took his position on the other side of the net. Once everyone was ready, Oikawa set to the first kid. 

They kept at it for a while, and Oikawa found that it was nice working with Tanaka. There was nothing off about how they worked as a unit and that was the surprising thing: despite being on different teams they actually did work well as a unit. Tanaka was good at what he did, but more importantly, he was good with kids, and he was actually teaching them. Oikawa knew that the next time he came back they’d retain those skills. 

Eventually it was time for the kids to go home. Their parents picked them up and Oikawa was left with Tanaka. He suddenly, for once in his life, didn’t know what to do.

“We should get dinner,” he blurted out. 

Tanaka stared at him. “Huh?” 

“I mean...the convenience store isn’t far,” Oikawa backtracked. 

Tanaka sighed. “I guess I am kind of hungry.” His stomach growled. 

Oikawa smirked. “Kind of?” 

“Shut up! If we’re going let’s go,” Tanaka said. He gestured for Oikawa to follow him, and Oikawa fell into step beside him. 

“How’s practice going?” Oikawa asked. He had the weird urge to hold Tanaka’s hand so he stuffed his own hands into his pockets. 

“Like I’m giving away our secrets,” Tanaka said. “But...if you have to know, we’re doing awesome and we’re totally ready to kick your ass and win Nationals.” 

That was a tall order. Oikawa could appreciate the optimism. “I don’t think so. We’re definitely going to win. We have the best strategy and the best players and the best _setter_.” 

“Hey! Kageyama is great,” Tanaka said. 

“Is he though?” 

“Yeah. He’s a bit…” Tanaka struggled for the word. “He can be a bit of a dumbass sometimes, but he’s a good kid.” 

Oikawa wanted to point out that Tanaka was only a year older but decided not to. “You’re not bad competition, though. You’d even be pretty good on the same team as me,” he said. “Setting to you is not bad at all.” 

“Of course not,” Tanaka said. “I can take any set and turn it into a great spike.” He frowned. “You’re not bad.” 

“Not bad?” Oikawa raised an eyebrow. 

“I guess being on the same team as you wouldn’t be bad,” Tanaka said. “But why would you even want to?” 

“Well…” _Because I think I have a crush on you._ “We’re here!” He ran towards the convenience store. 

Tanaka ran after him and pulled ahead, touching the door first. “I won!” 

“What? This wasn’t a race!” 

“It is now,” Tanaka said, grinning, “and I beat your ass.” He opened the door and Oikawa followed him inside, thinking about how that grin was for him. 

Inside, Tanaka went straight for the pork buns. Oikawa had to refrain from saying that he’d heard that Tanaka made good ones because he definitely wasn’t supposed to know that. Instead he found some milk bread before heading over to get a bun for himself. He noticed that Tanaka had picked out melonpan, which was also good, but he felt that milk bread was superior. 

They paid for their stuff and Tanaka glanced at Oikawa’s food. “Milk bread, huh? I know how to make that.” 

“You bake?” 

“And cook. What of it?” 

“Nothing. But is it any good?” 

“Of course it is,” Tanaka scoffed. 

“Prove it,” Oikawa said. 

Tanaka stared at him. “What?” 

“You heard me. Prove it.” 

Tanaka turned to look at him. Oikawa looked back, completely serious. 

Then Tanaka smiled. “Challenge accepted.” 

*

Oikawa got a text two days later that said, “i got your number from Kageyama we should meet by the convenience store after school today at 3” 

Oikawa’s first thought was “why the hell does Kageyama have my number?” followed by “Who is this?” Then a second text came that said, “it’s tanaka, by the way, i meant meeting for milk bread.” 

His heart almost stopped. He had Tanaka’s number and he didn’t even have to ask for it. 

The entire day he was preoccupied with the meeting that would happen later. He hadn’t expected Tanaka to go the length of getting his number and actually making the milk bread. It was definitely something he didn’t have to do at all. It made him wonder. It made him _hope_.

Iwaizumi clearly wanted to know what was up, but Oikawa didn’t tell him because he didn’t want him to know what was going on in case things went wrong. This was a high-stakes meeting, and he didn’t want the added pressure of someone else knowing and expecting things. 

Finally the end of the school day came and Oikawa made his way to the convenience store. It was a farther trip for him than it was for Tanaka, but it was worth it. 

Tanaka had arrived first. He was sitting on the sidewalk a bit off to the side of the store. He waved at Oikawa, who came to sit down next to him. 

“So,” Oikawa said, “where are these delicious milk breads?” 

Tanaka actually looked self conscious about them, but he said, “you’ll be head-over-heels for them. Once you take a bite, it’ll blow your mind.” 

“I hope so.” 

Tanaka took a container out of his bag and opened it. He tore off a round piece of bread and handed it to Oikawa. 

Oikawa looked at it for a moment. This was something Tanaka had made for him. No one else had taken a piece of bread, from what he could see, so he was the first. He took a bite. 

It was...delicious. 

He closed his eyes and sighed. “Mmm...I can’t believe this!” 

“What?” Tanaka asked warily. 

“Straight from the enemy!” 

“What?!” 

“I could kiss you!” 

“Why would you?” 

Oikawa opened his eyes, realizing what he’d said. He looked down at his piece of bread. There was a choice to make here. “It’s a phrase but also...I...ugh...Iwa-chan would be laughing right now...I...like you.” The words slipped out before he could stop himself. 

Tanaka was quiet. Oikawa almost thought that maybe he’d just get up and leave. 

But then he said, “in a… _like_ like way?” 

“Yeah,” Oikawa said. He wanted to make a joke to lighten the atmosphere or take the focus off himself but couldn’t quite do it. 

“I think...you’re not so bad.” 

Oikawa looked up to see Tanaka staring at his bread. 

“I was really hoping you’d like this,” Tanaka added. “I can’t believe this. With you of all people. Noya’s gonna kill me.” 

“Iwa-chan is gonna kill me,” Oikawa sighed. It felt like a weight had been lifted off his shoulders, to have it out there. But with the confession came other things, like what they should do afterwards. 

“I didn’t think anything of it until I talked to Suga-senpai,” Tanaka said, “since he wanted to know where I was the other day.” 

Mr. Refreshing, Oikawa’s mind supplied. 

“He told me to go for it, but I wasn’t sure,” Tanaka added. “He said food couldn’t hurt. Food’s always a good way to get to know people.” 

“If they like it,” Oikawa pointed out. 

“Well you like it, don’t you?” 

Oikawa laughed. “Yeah, I do.”

Tanaka sighed and tilted his head back. “Aaaaah, man, I’ve never done this.” 

“You’ve never dated anyone?” Oikawa was surprised. Tanaka was a personality. He didn’t know how people wouldn’t want to date him. 

“Don’t say anything!” Tanaka’s cheeks were pink. “It’s not like — have _you_ dated anyone?” 

“Yes.” 

“Oh.” 

“Don’t worry,” Oikawa said. “I’ll show you the ropes. We’ll go on a date.” 

“A date?” 

“I’ll give you a perfect first date,” Oikawa said. He wanted to, too. It was a lot of pressure, making sure that Tanaka would enjoy and remember his first date ever. Oikawa was a perfectionist, which meant it had to be good. “I might need a few days to plan though.” 

Tanaka looked vaguely concerned. “We can’t just go for pork buns?” 

“No!” Oikawa was horrified. “It has to be more special than that! It’s a date!” 

“Well I don’t know!” 

“That’s why I’m gonna teach you,” Oikawa said, teasing. Tanaka’s cheeks went red again. “I can teach you lots. First lesson.” He bit his lip, deciding to be a bit daring. “A kiss.”

“Kiss,” Tanaka repeated. “Yeah. I want to kiss you.” 

“I want to kiss you too.” 

They looked at each other and it occurred to Oikawa that neither of them actually knew what they were doing. Still, he leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to Tanaka’s lips. Tanaka returned it, just as gently, as if they were both testing things out. And they were. 

They both pulled away, but not completely. They were still close enough that it would only take the slightest move for them to kiss again, and Oikawa wanted to, but they were in public and the people in the convenience store probably wouldn’t appreciate that. 

“I’ll let you in on a secret,” Oikawa murmured. “I don’t have a _lot_ of experience. Don’t tell anyone.” 

“How much experience do you have?” Tanaka asked. 

“I dated one person.” 

“One?” 

“Hey, it’s not none! Besides, they couldn’t appreciate my love of volleyball. You can.” 

Tanaka sat up completely and grinned. “You’re right about that. Doesn’t mean I won’t kick your ass when the time comes.” 

“We’ll just go on make-up dates afterwards,” Oikawa said. 

Tanaka laughed. “Loser pays!” 

For the first time in a long time, Oikawa felt thrilled about something that wasn’t a game of volleyball. “You’re on.”

**Author's Note:**

> Side-note, I was so happy when I looked up Tanaka's favorite food and it was melonpan. I already knew Oikawa's was milk bread, which is also really good, and the two of them baking would be so cute! So, imagine them doing that in the future!


End file.
